The debt-burdened Allan government is spruiking its wholly public births, deaths and marriages agency to private investors in a bid to bolster its beleaguered finances.
A cabinet minister, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed there was a desire for several years at the highest levels of government to rebuild Births, Deaths and Marriages through the private market.The senior MP went on to say the registry would ideally be brought back into the government fold entirely once it had proven its value to the taxpayer.
The same budget papers forecast Victoria’s debt to rise to $187.8 billion by June 2028. In simple terms, the May budget leaves Victorian taxpayers with abelow 30 per cent since Jacinta Allan became premier, according to an exclusive survey published by this masthead last month. The survey found two-thirds of voters wanted the government to do more to reduce debt.
Joyce said while Victoria’s debt levels were an important consideration, his research on privatisation showed even partial privatisation was often “short-term gain for long-term pain”. The total administered income from identity and worker screening transactions in Victoria for the six months to June 30 last year was $33.83 million, according to the Department of Government Services’ most recent publicly available annual report.